It sounds like you never got inside Nyantech headquarters? There is quite a bit more to the game after that-- I would even say that all of the Pogoman-hunting stuff is merely a prologue to the actual game. I would recommend revisiting this game if you have the time! (Also note that the hints in the hint menu are context-sensitive, i.e. you'll only see hints relevant to your current situation but there's plenty more to go back and check out if you get stuck again.)

One last thing: don't take my replies as critiques of your reviews; I found them entertaining and insightful. I am impressed that you not only played all those games but wrote reviews for all of them, and all in under three weeks! I just felt like there were a few things worth pointing out in response.

One last thing: don't take my replies as critiques of your reviews...I just felt like there were a few things worth pointing out in response.

Thanks for reviewing! Happy Thanksgiving!

I take criticism enthusiastically as it highlights my weaknesses that I can then improve upon. I also appreciate the community interaction. Happy belated thanksgiving to you as well! Now to address those critiques...

I am pretty sure she brought nothing with her specifically designed to hunt vampires. While I appreciate the MacGyver aspect of this game, the end result is that the protagonist seems weak and ill prepared. Even if she was not expecting any conflict at the McDonalds, as a hunter of the supernatural, she should always have some sort of contingency plan.

She is a member of a vampire-killing team, and until now had only encountered vampires while with the team-- in particular, her role on the team is to be the passive bait to lure the vampire so her teammates can kill him. So I think it's an intentional part of the story that she is unprepared, and has to learn how to improvise and to be an active vampire killer. (She can also call her team members for help, though she still has to do some maneuvering to get the vampire to a place where they can help her.) Moreover, I think this plays into the story's metaphorical theme of self-empowerment, and learning to stick up for victims to defend them from predators.

First, I would like to state that I am happy that I warmed up to this game a little more than I had initially and that I adjusted the score appropriately prior to the scoring deadline.

The bait role is the most dangerous one, and the most dangerous role is usually reserved for the most experienced member. Also, you can not afford to ever be unprepared as while you are hunting them, they are also hunting you. Vampires have evolved over hundreds, thousands, of years to become the ultimate predator, what the hero and her teammates have committed to is a lifestyle change.

While the confidence to improvise and make sound decisions under stress is a large part of self-empowerment, the overwhelming majority is preparation. Having a superior level of preparation is usually what separates weakness from strength.

You shouldn't have to "learn" to stick up for victims to defend them from predators, empathy is a base human characteristic, and if you choose to use that empathy to actively defend others: it is more often than not your level of preparation that distinguishes between being a "hero" and selfishly putting others at risk. Here was my main disconnect with the story, while the hero had selfless and noble goals, the successful conclusion appeared more from the unrealistic incompetence of the antagonist than anything else.

Overall, this was a great game that accomplished a lot of things. While it was not one of my top picks of the comp, I do respect its high ranking and would like to congratulate the author.

Nothing happened in this game, I was waiting for something to happen, nothing happened, and then it mercifully ended. You play the role of Evelyn, you go to a class, you hang out with your elderly friend, swing by your dorm, Carrie offers you a drink, you have some drinks, then your elderly friend picks you up, and you make a big deal about how Carrie hurt you, and then it ended. I didn't see anything wrong here, it looked like Carrie was just trying to be friendly,

I felt this way on my first playthrough as well, but this game turns out to have a lot more branching than I thought at first, and other branches reveal a lot more about their relationship (as well as the relationship with Miss Dexter). Even after discovering a branch where there is explicit abuse, I still wondered whether Evelyn might be an unreliable narrator, but eventually the truth comes out definitively. I thought this contrast between playthroughs was an effective demonstration of gaslighting and the self-doubt/denial that can persist in the mind of a chronic abuse victim.

It sounds like you never got inside Nyantech headquarters? There is quite a bit more to the game after that-- I would even say that all of the Pogoman-hunting stuff is merely a prologue to the actual game. I would recommend revisiting this game if you have the time! (Also note that the hints in the hint menu are context-sensitive, i.e. you'll only see hints relevant to your current situation but there's plenty more to go back and check out if you get stuck again.)

I ran out of time methodically mapping everything out. Even though the game came with a generic ingame map, I am very meticulous when I go through a text adventure. It is near the top of my list of games to go back to post-comp and explore a lot deeper. I am happy with my final score of 10 on this one.

My biggest regret of the competition was scoring Detectiveland an 8 when in hindsight I should have scored it a 9. It just really felt like an 8 to me at the time. Nevertheless, it all turned out well for the author despite my shortsightedness. A well deserved congratulations to Robin Johnson!

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